How to pronounce his
Say it like HIZ. His is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce his. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- HIZ
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
His pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- HIZSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "i" in sit.
American vs British pronunciation of his
American and British speakers say his in essentially the same way: /hɪz/ in the US and /hɪz/ in the UK.
British respelling: HIZ.
What does his mean?
- Belonging to him.
- Belonging to a person of unspecified gender.
- That or those belonging to him; the possessive case of he, used without a following noun.“This pen is his. These books are also his.”
- His house or home.“After our night out, I went back to his.”
- Alternative spelling of His.
- plural of hi How to pronounce hi
Where does his come from?
From Middle English hes, from Old English his (“his; its”), from Proto-Germanic *hes (“of this”), genitive of Proto-Germanic *hiz (“this, this one”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-, *ḱey- (“this”).
Words that rhyme with his
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of his.
Questions about saying his
How do you pronounce his?
Say HIZ. The American pronunciation is /hɪz/. In British English it is /hɪz/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in his?
His is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: HIZ.
Do Americans and Brits say his the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /hɪz/ and the British form is /hɪz/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.